HUNTSVILLE — The Sam Houston State women's tennis team begins dual match play this weekend beginning with a doubleheader Saturday against Prairie View A&M.

The Bearkats will host the Panthers at the McAdams Tennis Center at 10 a.m., weather permitting, with the second match scheduled to take place at 2 p.m.
Sam Houston State is also set to play Texas A&M Sunday in College Station at 4:30 p.m.

The Bearkats are coming off one their best seasons in the program's history, finishing at No. 10 in the 2019 Texas Regional rankings. It was just the second time since 2002 that the program finished the year inside the top 10.

Sam Houston State went 15-8 in the 2019 spring season, including 7-4 in the Southland Conference, and advanced to the championship match of the Southland Conference Tournament.

The 15 wins was the most in a spring season in program history, and the appearance in the conference tournament championship match was the first for SHSU.

Along the way, the Kats landed three individual players on the All-SLC squad, including first-team selections Sahaja Yamalapalli (No. 1 singles) and Lusine Chobanyan (No. 4 singles), while Isidora Zivkovic (No. 2 singles) was a second-team choice. The No. 3 doubles duo of Karla De La Luz Montalvo and Petra Kaszas also earned an All-SLC second-team nod.

Yamalapalli was named the league's Player of the Year, becoming just the second Bearkat in history to earn that honor after a year that saw her go 18-5 at No. 1 singles for the season.

Sam Houston State has three players making their dual-match debut in orange this spring. Houston transfer Constandena Nicolaou from London, England, Dutch freshman Emma Goedkoop and redshirt freshman Ryli Ruffin from Mason bring their talents to the squad.